History of Bibliophile Books

The Wharf newspaper writes: "It all started in 1978 when Bill Smith met Australian journalist Max Harris and formed a book club with no membership fees but with newsletters sent out 10 times a year."

With over 2,500 titles at any one time, its choices available are certainly broad, from Wordsworth editions selling from £3 to high-end art books. One of the major selling points for the brand is the fact it gives 50-90% off the cover price of its books, which comes about by picking up titles and offering them at affordable prices.

Annie said: "We have signed editions, first editions. Publishers need to clear stocks as there are so many books printed. It's a gamble for us though because, unlike a bookshop that has sale or return, we don't have that. I have to go on gut instinct. That's where literary knowledge comes in."

"We create independent, honest reviews. I write two-thirds of them and we ran a competition for contributors in our style for which we had 2,500 people enter. In the end, six people won and they got a contract as freelancers."

Since 2010, video reviews have been created in-house and seen by over 3 million viewers on the YouTube channel /bibliophilebooks.

The 10-times-a-year newsletter, edited by Annie, is the staple part of the business, with ten of thousands of book reviews in the database and tens of thousands of customers on the mailing list.

Bibliophile has published Deric's Diana's Story and Lost For Words and several other titles in Amazon Kindle eBook editions. Click to buy all Bibliophile's out of print choices to republish in eBook format.

Bibliophile is the ultimate Green company - the very books we have bought up remaining copies of would otherwise be pulped, our newspaper format is eco-friendly and we use recyclable polythene wrapping to mail and recycled packaging.

Bibliophile sells books signed whenever possible in our family book club like those of our author friends like David Day the Canadian poet, environmentalist and Tolkien expert, historian Max Arthur, artists Helen Cowcher and Frieda Hughes, crime writer Simon Brett, Python Terry Jones, Ray Hammond, cartoonist Neil Kerber, wordsmith Ray Puxley and the late great George Melly and others have all been happy to sign their books for Bibliophile. We love their friendships and they love our enterprise! Another speciality of Bibliophile is our Private Eye cartoonist Tony's cartoons. A friend of Bibliophile for over 15 years, Tony Husband has cartooned for dozens of our front covers and section headings lifting our collective spirits and adding his unique talents to the family book club. See his website Tony's Cartoons.

Our founding father, Australian journalist Max Harris, dreamed up the name for our publication Bibliophile in 1978. Max, poet, columnist and intellectual, was the literary expert who made it his mission to access cheaper and better books for the Australian market - and to fight literary censorship.

In league with Bill Smith, former editor of Books & Bookmen and owner of an eponymously named chain of bargain bookshops "Booksmith", the two bookworms founded our mail order bookclub. Bill also found fame as a publisher and was the last person to be charged and acquitted under the Obscene Publications Act. He had reprinted a book called The Amorous Illustrations of Thomas Rowlandson and discovered that the original erotic watercolours were held at the Queen's private Library at Windsor Castle no less!  Bill’s defence summary in court was delivered in style, with his thumbs tucked under his imaginary braces, “Me Lud, surely if they’re good enough for Her Majesty, they’re good enough for her subjects!”  Case dismissed.

In 1991, Annie Quigley was given the opportunity to buy the business by her mentor Bill Smith when he was dying.

Earlier, the business had been partnered by Fred Bass “the New York Bookseller” and owner of the famous Strand Bookstore, now in its 100th year.

In July 1992 Annie became sole proprietor and bought out Bill Smith's widow and Fred Bass. Since then, she has grown the business to over four times the size and is still run by a small, dedicated staff, six of whom have served over 20 years and one nearly 40.

Bibliophile's own eBooks and Publications was launched in 2009.

In 2011 Bibliophile was granted a Royal Warrant for Bookselling to HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.

Annie Quigley was elected to the Council of the Windsor, Eton & District Royal Warrant Holders Association in 2013 and became Vice President then President in 2016.  She has written and edited their official website 2014-2021. In 2020 for a 3 year term she was elected Windsor Representative on the national Royal Warrant Holders Association Council. 

As President, she presented Her Majesty The Queen with a saddle for her 90th birthday from the Assocation.

Annie also met the now King Charles III at St James's Palace with other Royal Warrant Holders.